Leadership Type: Trustees

Donald Kearns, MD, serves as Vice Chair of Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees, and has served on the board since 2020.

He is president emeritus of Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, having previously served as president and CEO from 2013 to 2018. Rady Children’s is a 551-bed pediatric care facility providing the largest source of comprehensive pediatric medical services in San Diego, southern Riverside and Imperial counties. It is the region’s only designated pediatric trauma center and was ranked in 2023 by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 pediatric health care systems in the nation.

Before becoming president and CEO at Rady, Kearns held numerous physician leadership roles, including chair of the Department of Surgery, surgeon-in-chief and chief medical officer. Kearns joined the hospital in 1987 and practiced as a pediatric otolaryngologist.

He earned his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine and completed residency in otolaryngology head and neck surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, with a subsequent fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology at the Great Ormond Street Hospital (formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) in London, England.

He has a Master of Medical Management degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Lori Moore has served on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees since 2023.

She is a registered nurse, a fifth-generation San Diegan, and a member of the Cushman family, whose philanthropic endeavors span decades. Moore serves as Vice President of The Cushman Foundation, which supports a wide range of community and humanitarian causes. She operates the foundation and manages its equity assets.

Moore’s specific interests have long focused on human health and caregiving. She graduated as a Licensed Vocational Nurse from Maric College in 1984 and Saddleback College, where she earned her registered nursing degree in 1986.

She has worked for Saddleback Hospital, Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Villa Pomerado, and Pomerado Hospital in a variety of specialties, including oncology, medical/surgery, respiratory, maternity, high-risk antepartum, neonatal intensive care and intensive care, skilled nursing, and gerontology. Since 2011, she has served as an 11th-hour hospice volunteer.

Moore is currently chair of the Sharp Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees. She serves on numerous committees and is past chair of the Sharp Healthcare Board of Directors. She is a Quality, Safety, and Medical Affairs Committee member at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Moore is also a director at Cush Enterprises, a San Diego-based commercial real estate firm, and co-manager of Selma Investments. Lori was honored by the Corporate Directors Forum in 2019 when she was named Director of the Year – Corporate Governance, Not-For-Profit. She supports Sharp Healthcare’s 4th Hospice House in Poway, Moore Mountainview Hospice Home, which will open in 2024.

Moore is also a director at Cush Enterprises, a San Diego-based commercial real estate firm, and co-manager of Selma Investments. Lori is the on-site Property Manager, overseeing day-to-day operations and leasing for Cush Plaza Scripps Ranch.

In her spare time, Lori’s various hobbies include cooking, traveling, kayaking, scuba diving, fishing, and enjoying quality time with her two children and three grandchildren.

David L. Szekeres has served on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees since 2019.

He is president of Connect Biopharma, a global, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies that treat inflammatory diseases.

Previously, Szekeres had been executive vice president and chief operating officer of Heron Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotechnology company developing best-in-class treatments in oncology and pain. Prior to that, he was chief business officer, principal financial officer and general counsel at Regulus Therapeutics; head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Life Technologies Corporation; a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins; and a senior associate in investment banking at Robertson Stephens.

Szekeres serves as chairman of the board of GRI Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on inflammatory and autoimmune disease treatment; and an executive advisory board member at Colossal Biosciences, a biotechnology and genetic engineering company working to genetically resurrect extinct animal species.

He is also a board member of CureMatch, a software company focused on personalized medicine and combination therapy in oncology; and chairman of the board of Animantis, a software company focused on automated, cloud-based, artificial intelligence applications to improve drug discovery and development.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminology, law and society from the University of California Irvine and a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law.

T. Denny Sanford is Chairman and CEO of United National Corp. as well as owner and founder of First Premier Bank. 

Michael R. Cunningham has served on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees since 2023.

From 2013 to 2023, Cunningham served as both chancellor of the National University System, a network of accredited nonprofit education institutions serving a diverse population of 45,000 students, including pre-K-12 and working professionals, and president of San Diego-based National University.

Previously, he was dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University and a longtime business executive who founded Cunningham Graphics International, (CGII:NASDAQ) which provided printing services to financial companies worldwide.

Cunningham has served in many advisory roles, among them: New York University (NYU) Trustee, executive committee member of the Association of Independent California College and Universities; education committee member for the California Chamber of Commerce; member of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and on the board of governors for the Center for Creative Leadership, a global provider of leadership development programs.

He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from New York University. 

Malin Burnham is an honorary trustee of Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees and has served on the board since 1982.

A native San Diegan, Burnham joined his father’s real estate brokerage firm (employee #14) in 1949 and purchased the business in 1961. The company grew to more than 350 employees and included membership on both the New York and American stock exchanges.  In 2008, Burnham Real Estate was acquired by the global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. Burnham continued as vice chairman and chairman emeritus at Cushman & Wakefield until 2022.

Over his career, Burnham has been an active board member of 16 companies and played a role in the founding of three publicly traded companies.

Burnham has enjoyed a long, parallel career as a civic leader and philanthropist. In 1996, the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation was renamed The Burnham Institute after he and an anonymous donor contributed $10 million. It was renamed the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in 2006.

Burnham has played key roles in the development and expansion of numerous San Diego-based, non-profit enterprises, including the U.S.S. Midway Museum, Sanford Consortium for Stem Cell Research, the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate and most recently, the creation of the Burnham Center for Community Advancement, “think-and-do tank” designed to help advance the San Diego region.

He has also made multiple contributions to local universities, including California State University San Marcos, the University of San Diego, San Diego State University and University of California San Diego to support their education, research and community engagement missions.

He was named “Mr. San Diego” in 1998 and “Philanthropist of the Year” in 2000.

Burnham is recognized as a world-class sailor. At 17, he became the youngest skipper to win a World Championship in the International Star Class. He has won nine International Championships and played a leading role in bringing the America’s Cup back to San Diego from Perth, Australia in 1987. In 1988 and 1992 he chaired San Diego Yacht Club’s successful defenses of the America’s Cup. San Diego hosted the America’s Cup in 1988, 1992 and 1995.

Burnham has a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Stanford University and served on its board of trustees for 10 years.

William Gerhart is Chair of Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees, and has served on the board since 2013.

He is chief executive officer of Kinevant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for rare inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and entrepreneur-in-residence at Roivant Sciences, an international healthcare company focused on applying technology to drug development.

Gerhart has more than 25 years of experience in launching, financing and building companies based on promising technologies, is principal inventor on 14 issued patents and has founded, co-founded or invested in more than a dozen companies.

Prior to Roivant and Kinevant, Gerhart was CEO of Respivant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company seeking to improve the lives of persons with pulmonary fibrosis. From 2014 to 2018, he was co-founder and CEO of Patara Pharma, which was acquired in 2018 by Roivant Sciences.

From 2008 to 2012, Gerhart was co-founder, president and CEO of Elevation Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego–based biotech company that developed a novel inhaled therapy for patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, now marketed as Lonhala® Magnair®.  Elevation was acquired in 2012 by Sunovion, a subsidiary of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma.

From 2002 to 2007, Gerhart was founder and CEO of Mpex Pharmaceuticals, developer of Quinsair®, an inhaled antibiotic treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Gerhart has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baylor University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

Douglas H. Obenshain has served on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees since 2004.

He is partner and senior vice president at Lockton Commercial Insurance, part of the world’s largest privately held insurance firm with offices in 125 countries, since 2009. Previously, he had been a partner at the professional services network Ernst & Young.

Obenshain has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (accounting and finance) from Miami University in Ohio.

Stuart A. Tanz has served on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees since 2005.

He is president and CEO of Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., a leading independent owner and operator of grocery-anchored shopping centers on the West Coast. Previously, he was CEO of Pan Pacific Retail Properties Corp. and has been a chief executive and leader at multiple companies.

Tanz is a member of International Council of Shopping Centers and the Young Presidents’ Organization. The Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto was founded by Stuart’s father, Mark Tanz (1931-2021).

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California.